The Love of Your Life
by AwakeningEden
Summary: Simon promised Nia eternity. Yoko can't seem to move past Kamina. But a day of reunion promises a love for the here and now.


**Crystal Inferno: I know virtually no one will read this, but I don't care. I really wanted to write it. I started it about six months ago and just finished it today when motivation hit. **

It just happened.

It had been a year or two, just him and Buta traveling around, doing his best to fulfill his late wife's wish. The majority of the world was a vast desert and it would probably take the rest of his life to plant and care for all the beautiful flowers and lush trees he wanted to grow.

But he had been alone. The only words spoken were to Buta, the moon, and the owners of the occasional bar and inn he drifted in when his body had had enough of sleeping on rocks. He wanted company, if only for a day. And she was the first to cross his mind.

She had chosen to stay clear of government affairs as well, returning to her small island and teaching the future what it was like in the past. They had done their part; they changed the world. They could do whatever the hell they wanted now.

When he walked up to the empty schoolhouse, he felt like he was falling into a dream. There she was: hair tied into a braid, wearing glasses she didn't need and clothes he could never imagine her wearing. She was erasing the last remnants off the chalkboard with a small smile on her face. A smile tugged at the corners of his own lips; he had forgotten how much he adored that smile.

He stood outside the classroom until she turned around to gather her materials. She looked up and dropped whatever she was holding to the floor. She rushed out the door, stretched out her arms and pulled him into a fierce hug.

"I can't believe it's you," she mumbled into his chest as he returned the hug, relishing the touch of another human being. The fabric of her clothes was smooth and soft, a drastic distinction from the coarse rocks and sheets he had grown accustomed to.

"I can't believe it's you too…Yoko," her hair smelt of tulips and lilies and his nose caught onto her sweet pea perfume. It was a bit intoxicating and disoriented his senses. For a moment he was fourteen again, bewildered and fascinated by her mere presence.

He sighed; he really must be lonely.

After they pulled away from their embrace, Yoko took him by the hand and led him to her house, just on the other side of the classroom.

"It's not glamorous or anything, but it's much better than what you've been used to these last couple of years," she teased and let go of his hand as she prepared a place for him to sit. He brought his hand close to his face, inspecting all the little scars and scraps. Her hand had still felt smooth; his was coarse. He wondered if she was surprised.

"Simon!" Yoko's voice snapped him from his musings and he looked up to her smiling face, all pretty and natural. "Come on, sit down! We've got a lot to talk about. You can daydream later."

Simon nodded and took a seat on a wicker chair. Yoko handed him a cup of iced tea and he gulped it down graciously. He had forgotten what homemade drinks tasted like.

"Must have been thirsty, huh?" she continued to smile away and served him some more. "So, heard anything from Ron?"

"No," he said as he continued to guzzle down the drink. "I haven't had my phone on for about a good six months or so. Can never find a place to charge it."

"Well, you'll be happy to know the Rossiu and Kinon finally tied the knot," Yoko laughed, watching Simon choke a little. "And she's pregnant."

"That's good," he coughed out, a little taken aback at the news. He had not expected Rossiu to get hitched to Kinon so quickly. But then again, with the Black Siblings it was all about going at life full-stop. Even the mildest of them would want to start her family life sooner than later.

"Makes you think what Kittan would have said," Simon stared into the glass cup, recalling Kittan's boisterous laugh and attitude. The three girls had taken the news hard when it was revealed that their brother had perished to save the universe. Kiyal had insisted through bloodshot eyes that Kittan wouldn't have wanted them to cry but rather to celebrate his most ultimate victory.

"_He did it for us, after all," _she had laughed.

Simon raised his head to see Yoko in silent contemplation. No tears, no frowns. Just silence. Gimmy had briefly mentioned the kiss that transpired between Kittan and Yoko before his suicide mission.

"He would have said," the strength in her voice startled Simon. She turned to Simon and crinkled her face into a scowl and tried her best to make her eyebrows appear larger. "_That Rossiu betta treat 'er right, or the moment 'e does anything to my baby sister again, I'll show his majesty just how the eldest of the Black Siblings gets it done!" _

Simon chuckled at impression. "Hey, not bad Yoko."

Yoko giggled and took a sip of iced tea. "Well, although I do love it here, it can get a bit tedious at times. Sometimes, when I'm watching TV, I mimic the people. I use them when I'm being playful with the kids."

"Who else can you mimic?" Simon was curious. And a little excited. Buta was sleeping in the other room. If he really thought about it, this was truly his first time being alone with Yoko.

"Hmm….let me think," And soon enough, Yoko began to mimic everyone. From Leite to Dyakkl to Makken to Gimmy to Kinon.

"_As Supreme Commander, I command you to not stop bouncing all around my house, Anna!" _her impression of Rossiu was so spot-on, Simon keeled over the wicker chair, laughing like he had years before. It felt good to be with a friend again.

Her voice and expression returned to normal. "I believe that's just about everyone." She beamed at his laughter, probably happy to have an audience other than children enjoy her talent.

As his laugh subdued, Simon said something he would very much regret the next day. But eventually cherish and understand was what changed his life.

"Well, not really everyone," he sighed in content and opened his eyes, only to see her dazzling smile gone and eyes glued to the floor. He knew what she was thinking about and it was his fault.

"Yoko, I'm sor –" but before he could apologize, her words interrupted him.

"You know, I really should stop doing this every time I remember his face," Yoko's hands shook and her legs trembled beneath her. "I mean, it's almost been 10 years. You'd think a full-grown woman could go on and live her life without everyone you know giving you that 'pity' look. I mean, c'mon! I'm not even a widow!" She laughed a little but her glass fell to the floor, iced tea running across the carpet.

Simon stood up, walked over to her, and placed a reassuring arm over her shoulders. Unlike Simon, who had vented and snapped at everyone and everything after Kamina's death, Yoko had bottled it all up inside, never allowing anyone to see past her determination to stop the Beastmen. Hell, she probably had never told anyone about that kiss or how much Kamina had truly meant to her.

_This might be the first time,_ Simon thought as he pulled her into an embrace. _She's ever let anyone see her like this. _

"I have no right," she whispered into him. "I have no right to feel this way. We didn't know each other for very long, but I felt so compelled to be by his side at all times. And when he kissed me, I remember fantasizing about our marriage, the kids we would have…and it was all shattered the next day. It would have been so much better…_so much better…_if I had never spoken to him that night, if we had never kissed…if…if…"

"Hush now, Yoko, it's okay," he stroked the back of her head, intertwining his fingers into her long red hair. "I'm here for you."

"No," her voice grew bitter, the words forced out. She pushed away from him and Simon was surprised to see fire back in her eyes, a snarl on the corners of her lips. "You're not. And you haven't been for a long time."

"What?" Simon asked. Where was this coming from? "What does that even mean? First off, _you're _the one who left me when we we're building the city, so you can't even justify your claim. You just popped out of nowhere one day to break me out of prison. I didn't even know if you were alive! How do you think that felt, to have your supposedly closest friend just run off on you? It felt like _shit." _

"At least you had Nia!" Yoko spat back at him. "At least you had someone who loved and cared for you. I had no one!"

"Don't give me that! You knew how Kittan felt about you. You knew that he and his sisters would have welcomed you into their family, no strings attached."

"But I couldn't do that to them! I couldn't lie to myself like that…"

"Then, what were you looking for? What did you want to do…what did you want me to do…" Simon's voice trailed, noticing the fire in Yoko's eyes vanishing as quickly as it had come. This was something he had never expected to do with her. They had never been at each other throat's like this before. What had happened to them in these last two years?

"I wanted you to tell me to stay," was Yoko's whispered response. "To tell me that I was needed, that you couldn't do it. That you couldn't rebuild the city without me. I know it sounds so stupid now, but you were all I had left that made me feel like my life was meaningful. And, when you just let me leave, I decided I might never come back. I found children to teach: give them the knowledge they needed to make this world beautiful and serene. They gave me purpose again.

"But…then we had to fight again. And for a second afterwards, I thought that maybe we could build again, and I would help you. But Nia…and then you just left. Without telling me why. I mean, I knew why, but I wanted to hear it from you. So, I just came back here. And I'm content…but I'm not happy…"

"Yoko," Simon murmured. He had never known. And why should he have ever known? Yoko was a determined, confident, happy woman. Or at least that was the mask she put on day in and day out. He could read her well, but not well enough. Not as well as she could read him. And that frightened him – not even Nia had known him like Yoko knew him.

In truth, he had wanted Yoko to stay. But he had thought that there was no point in stopping her. Just as she had seen no point in stopping him, regardless if he had given her an explanation or not.

"Simon," Yoko spoke his name as though she was searching for a lost keepsake, an unattainable childhood treasure dropped in the bottom of the ocean. It broke Simon's heart to see her like this – to see the strong, feisty woman he once obsessively adored so distant…so frail. "Can I ask you to do something?"

"Sure," Simon didn't care what she asked. He knew now that their relationship was strained. That he should have seen the signs a long time ago, asked her about Kamina, told her about Nia…if he could do anything to repair it, he would gladly do so.

"Kiss me," Yoko's voice was strong, filled with conviction. Simon's eyes widened but she continued before he could question her. "Just once. So that I know I'm not a curse. So that I know that the people I have loved and do love won't just die when I bestow any sort of affection on them. I want to know what it feels like to see that person again after we kiss…"

Simon didn't know what to do. Didn't know what to _say. _He hadn't thought of the possibility of kissing Yoko for a very long time. He would have jumped at the opportunity ten years back, probably would have done so five years ago, but now? When he had given his pledge to love Nia into eternity? When he was a wandering widow, growing flowers at the wish of his lost beloved? How could she ask this of him?

_Because you know you would ask the same of her, _the realization hit him like a concrete wall. What if Nia had died, disappeared right after their first kiss? What if he had taken a chance on someone else, and they vanished from his life without so much as one night alone? He would have been miserable, he would have thought he was a disease, a misfortune upon all who romantically came in contact with him. No doubt, he would have asked someone close to him to prove he wasn't a blotch of calamity; a pair of lips that sucked out their soul, suffocated them. He would have asked Yoko.

_But is it okay? _Simon looked at Yoko once more, her eyes glued to the spilled tea on the carpet. Nia wouldn't want to see Yoko crestfallen like this. Kamina wouldn't want her moping around…

_Dammit, Simon, kiss her before I knock some sense into you! _Kamina's boisterous voice rang in his head and with a rush of steady resolve, Simon shifted over to Yoko, cupped her face, and kissed her square on the lips.

To say it was anything but bliss would be an understatement.

She tasted like cherries and pomegranates, an intoxicating combination. He took his hands off her face and wrapped them around her toned waist. He deepened the kiss and was thrilled when she kissed back, her hand intertwining with his dark blue hair. He pressed his tongue over her lips, requesting entrance. She opened her mouth and their tongues twirled together, pushing into each other as closely as they possibly could. Yoko straddled him, her legs draping across his lower back. She let out a soft moan when she pressed against his crotch and Simon's breathe hitched at the wonderful sensation. Nia had never been like –

_Oh. Oh shit. _It was then, as Yoko began to slip off his jacket that Simon panicked. What was he doing? They were just supposed to kiss. It was supposed to be an innocent, symbolic, _quick _kiss. But he had forgotten what it was like to feel a woman in his arms, to hold her, to love her, and oh god she was grinding against him and blood was rushing, and, and –

"Oh, Simon," Yoko groaned.

Simon stood up, practically throwing her onto the ground. "I need to go."

"What…why?" Yoko was in a daze, eyes dilated and her breath quick.

"I can't do this….I can't do this to Nia…You can't do this to…" Simon stopped himself. To say she was doing this to Kamina would be beyond stupid. This was to prove she could get past Kamina's memory, not to internalize and perpetuate it.

_Is that what I'm doing? Perpetuating Nia into something she's not? _ No, Yoko and Simon's predicaments were different. She had loved Kamina for a few months. He had loved Nia for seven years and promised her eternity. It was not the same. Could not be the same.

"I can't stay," he said as he began to walk out the door to retrieve Buta. "I hope you understand."

But a hand pulled at his arm and a voice pleaded. "Stay. For all the times I left you. For all the times you left me."

Simon clenched his fists. For all the decisions he had made in his life, this was by far the toughest. Yoko had been his everything once. Only Kamina could outshine her in his heart. But he had moved past her. He had had Nia.

_So what happens when she's gone? _

He was too confused to think straight. Too aroused to be in Yoko's presence. He had to go, before he potentially made the biggest mistake of his life.

"Yoko –" But he was immediately cut off.

"Simon," her tone was laced with something he had never heard before. Not even from Nia in their most intimate moments. The way she said his name broiled his blood and awakened a dormant longing. One that had to be quenched. "Don't you dare leave me like this."

_But what if it isn't a mistake?_

Eyes glazed over in bright yearning, forgetting about Kamina and Nia and how he could ever face them in the life after, Simon turned back around, pulled Yoko forward and kissed her like he had imagined he would years ago. Laid her down like he had imagined. Took off her clothes like he had imagined. Touched her, traced her, grabbed her like he had imagined. And finally, made love with her like he had imagined, anticipated, _expected _all those years ago. When she was a goddess and he was supposed to be her king.

"Simon…faster…" Yoko was barely able to breathe out. Her moans excited him to no end, pushed him over an edge he had never been to before. His rhythmic thrusts sped up to meet her demands and her moans escalated to cries of delight and ecstasy. It seemed to continue on into infinity, the world dissolving down to the two of them. And when her final trill of pleasure met his ears, his mind and body were greeted with the undeniable sensation of paradise crashing over him like a thunderous ocean wave.

His arms suddenly became weak, his hands loosening their grip on Yoko's hips. He looked down at her and was surprised to see her staring back, her face flushed and her sweaty, voluptuous figure gleaming in the cool moonlight.

"You don't have to stay up there anymore you know," she giggled, pulling him forward to lie on top of her.

"I just wanted…to remember…the moment," Simon said between breaths, his eyes growing heavier by the second.

"Don't worry," Yoko's voice was distant and low. "If you ever forget, I'll just remind you."

Simon chuckled, "Thanks."

"Simon…" There it was. The same way she had said his name before. Like he was a misplaced memento, a token of the past she could never get back.

"Yes ,Yoko?" Simon wanted to promise her that tomorrow morning, none of this would be awkward. That they could live out a life of happiness with each other. But he had made enough promises in his lifetime. And he was very good at breaking them.

"…Good night," were her final words to him, her breath evening out. He turned his head and watched her sleep, her face that of an angel's in the clear starlight.

Kissing the top of her head, he whispered, "Sweet dreams, Yoko," before he succumbed to sleep and what the next day had in store for them.

3E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E3E3

**CI: So, I have a question for people in this fandom:**

**Why U NO LIKE Yoko/Simon? WHY?**

**Yes, I understand Simon and Nia's love is a beautiful and wonderful thing. And Yoko and Kamina had the potential to be a complete badass battle couple. But it didn't happen. Kamina died the next day and Nia disappeared into thin air right after their wedding ceremony. **

**I believe both Yoko and Simon are in there early 20's by the end of the series. That means that (let's say they live to be 90 or something) they have 70% of their lives to live. That means they have an entire lifetime to try and move past their old flames, to find happiness and start life anew. And I believe their most viable option is with each other. I believe the story fulfills the reasons why I like them together post-series. **

**I have the rest of the story outlined but I really don't feel like writing it unless I get feedback. My love for Gurren Lagaan has sort of waned but I do adore these two tremendously. So as of now, this is a one-shot with a bunch of delicious possibilities. **

**Hope you enjoyed! **


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